In regards to Barry Bonds, he may not be good in generally dealing with the press and public, but he’s not without his good points. A friend of mine was very severely injured at a Giants game some years ago, and during his considerable time in medical facilities, Barry Bonds visited him multiple times and helped him with physical therapy. There was no press or publicity for this, and Bonds’ efforts were sincere and appreciated. It was good to see, as no matter how he may be as a person, he’s likely to be the most purely talented baseball player I’ll ever get a chance to see play, and it’s nice to know that he’s not always a prima donna.
He was also a dirty player, known for things like elbows to the head and cutting the legs out from under opposing players. He once kicked a courtside cameraman in the groin.
Speaking of guitar gods…
Edward Van Halen is one of my guitar heroes... but sadly I'll admit he's (become) an egotistical, control-freak, chain-smoking, severe alcoholic who reportedly has become almost impossible to work with unless you're family :)
No mention of Axel Rose yet?
Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays With Morrie” and a journalist with the Detroit Newspapers, is pretty much the only reason those papers were able to screw their employees and lock them out of work.
Back in the early 90s, the News/Free Press unions went on strike, but because Albom wouldn’t join the striking writers, the writers decided NOT to go on strike, thus hanging the printing workers out to dry. Albom himself didn’t have the balls to cross the picket line every day, so he just submitted his articles from home (which was not terribly common at the time).
Throughout the strike, he continued to position himself with the media as a negotiator, saying he was trying to get the bosses and the workers to come to some agreeable terms. He was a highly in-demand writer, who could have had a job at any other news organization in the country. All he had to do to get them to cave was join the picket line, but he wouldn’t inconvenience himself enough to do that.
It’s good to hear that story. I have always suspected that Bonds got wrongly pegged as a jerk simply because he didn’t like the press and didn’t cooperate with them.
I’m not a fan of the guy, and I don’t like his steroid use, but I don’t like to see anybody on the wrong end of a hatchet job, either.
(I also suspect Ty Cobb was a better guy than his press would indicate. He gave an awful lot of money to charity, he built a hospital in his hometown, and was also known to support old ballplayers who were down on their luck.)
Reagan's acting and movies were generally favorably reviewed by the New York Times and their main critic of the day, Bosley Crowther. Of course you could say he was mainly a supporting actor in A films, with some exceptions such as Kings Row. I imagine if he came along today, he'd be in television (like David Caruso, unable to make it in movies).
Wolfgang Mozart was mostly decent and likeable, considering as a child prodigy he was dragged around Europe. He did have scatalogical humor, but that was mainly in letters to friends and relatives. It was also common for the era.
Anyone mention Marlon Brando and Milton Berle?
Two posts before yours.
He may have done some good things, but he also stabbed a hotel night watchman, beat up a groundskeeper and choked the groundkeeper’s wife, and pistol-whipped the owner of a butcher shop (after which he trashed the shop). He was a violent racist with a hair-trigger temper.
Tony Dungy. Talented football coach. Horrible homophobe.
I’ve always heard that Sammy Hagar isn’t one of the world’s most endearing people, either.
He was racist, no question. I don’t think that would have set him apart from many white ball-players in his day. But there were two sides to the man. He also attended Negro League games and ventured into the dugout to talk baseball with the players. He offered to help one black player get into the majors by passing him off as a Cuban. In later years he advocated for integrating sports (at least as early as 1952, when that was still controversial, particularly in his native South).
He also had a short temper, and a violent temper, no question. But in calmer moments, he did a lot of good deeds.
All I’m saying is that cartoon images of public figures are seldom accurate.
Here’s a look at some of the incidents and anecdotes which have come to define Cobb’s public image. It’s a Cobb apologia of sorts, but the racist and violent episodes in Cobb’s life are laid out in full detail.
He has religious beliefs that proscribe homosexuality. That doesn’t make him a horrible person, just one raised with beliefs based in another era. He’s what? Late 60s, early 70s? You expect a very religious person raised in that era to embrace gay marriage?
Cite?
From who? Other than Eddie and Alex. I’ve never heard anything but good things from people who have worked with Sammy.
He’s 59.
And I don’t completely buy into that whole “he grew up in a different era” theory. Sure, he lived in a time when there was widespread prejudice against gay people. But so did millions of other people (including me). We came from the same background as Dungy did but we were able to move past the bigotry we grew up with. Why shouldn’t Dungy be expected to do the same?
I was born in a time when it was illegal for interracial couples to get married. Does that mean I’m entitled to still oppose interracial marriage in 2015? Society gets over its prejudices and I think it’s reasonable to expect individuals to keep up.
Bill Cosby was a shite before the accusations started gaining traction.
And Van Morrison has real issues with Richard Gere.
I’ve read time and time again that the most miserable performer to worth with is Van Morrison. He may be considered a musical genius but also an A grade pr#ck.
Also Joan Armatrading (of “Drop the Pilot” fame) is said to be a man-hating bull dyke of the first order.
Come on - really?
Mid 90’s I was friends with a woman who one day was wearing a denim jacket with the Guns-N-Roses; Appetite for Destruction logo embroidered on the back, we were like WTF? A demure almost middle aged lady, we had to ask.
She used to work for Geffen records and is one of the bazillion people thanked in the liner notes. She said “the boys” were so sweet when she first met them when they were an LA bar band.
Then came the unlimited booze and drugs. All downhill from there she said.
Thank you for calling that out. People who spread homophobia are undeniably horrible people too.
Yeah, seriously, lister, that was totally uncalled-for.